Analysis Of Suspense In Apocalypsis Now

The fabula of the film “ Apocalysis Now” is quite simple. During the Vietnam War, a special agent Captain Willard is sent upriver to Cambodia with the order to find and “terminate” Colonel Kurtz, who has set up his personal army in the jungle.

To depict a surreal world of the horrors of war and craft a gripping suspense of the sequence in review, the film director employs a wide variety of audio track devices such as diegetic sound effects, non-diegetic music, voice over, and editing tools to affect the audience’s feelings. In the essay below I would like to dwell on specific audio and editing techniques employed by Coppola in “Apocalypsis Now” sequence to create suspense.

First of all, diegetic sounds and ambient sound effects are integral in creating tension and apprehension in the film, as “ …sound plays a critical role in determining how audiences react to images.” (p.234) At the background of the opening shot the audience hears the distant roll of thunder; gradually its sound increases and reaches its maximum, causing fear of impending jeopardy. As the tension escalates, the volume of the sound rises, we hear the roaring of dancers’ drums, and its sound is intentionally exaggerated, the tempo of music speeds up as well as the dance of the indigenous performers of the ritual sacrifice to gods. The alteration of volume and tempo of the sound heightens suspense and makes the audience anticipate with anxiety the forthcoming shots.

Furthermore, to increase dread and trepidation, affect the audience’s feelings, and intensify fear the film director skillfully uses the non-diegetic music. “Filmmakers carefully choose which sounds to include on the soundtrack, knowing that emphasizing a particular sound helps to shape the audience...

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...k when Willard aims his blow with machete and then the spectator sees the ritual slaughter of a cow with machete too. The camera does not show the details of Kurtz’s murder; instead it depicts in detail the ghastly killing of the animal. The shots go back and forth because they are interwoven by the meaning, and the cow symbolizes Colonel Kurtz. The audience’s sympathy now is with Kurtz.

Parallel editing draws the audience attention to important narration details and shapes the audience’s emotional response.

I have discussed how Francis F. Coppola exploits a wide array of audio and editing techniques to create suspense, tense, and anxiety in the sequence to affect the audience’s feelings. Despite the simple fabula, this multifaceted film requires certain intellectual involvement and efforts of the audience to grasp fully its underlying meanings and subtle nuances.